Book Review: All Rights Reserved

Story Summary:

Speth (weird name, but that's the point – weird names are cheap) is about to turn fifteen, her transition to adulthood. From that moment on, she'll be charged for every word she speaks. Money gets paid to rights holders who own each word. Her “world” is a dome, one of many in what's left of the United States, and the dome is run by Lawyers and corporations. Ads follow you everywhere.

Rather than comply with the rules, Speth decides to simply…not speak. Easier said than done in a world where gestures are also chargeable. The bigger problem? Others decide to copy her. One woman becomes a movement, something that doesn't go down well with the Lawyers.

Speth is an easy character to root for, a young woman who spends the story dealing with trauma while accidentally changing society. The world-building is extreme, but with the way ads stalk you around the internet and everything's on a subscription these days, it's also weirdly believable. I would have liked the ending to be a little more fleshed out, but there's another book in the series, so it also makes sense that some threads were left open.

Favourite quote:

“He was alive. That was disappointing.”

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Note: I don't rate books with a number/stars because it feels like that feels icky what with me being an author. But I only review books I enjoyed and would recommend to others.

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